


Ingot's Bravest

by KingchooRS



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27325690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingchooRS/pseuds/KingchooRS
Summary: (Deleted story idea from a Next Gen multi-story.)(Please see notes at the top of the page.)They say tough guys never get scared, so that's what Bubba sets out to prove. On their way to the next race, Bubba takes the group to the old mining town of Ingot.
Relationships: Bubba Wheelhouse & Lightning McQueen
Kudos: 1





	Ingot's Bravest

**Author's Note:**

> I want to apologize for my lack of stories these past few months. I'm currently juggling a few stories at the moment. Without spoiling anything,  
> \- One is called 'Fear Comes with the Job' and is about Next Gen Aaron Clocker.  
> \- The second one it's called 'Making it Feel Like Home' and is set a week after the events of the first video game.  
> \- The third one is going to be my second HTTYD story.  
> \- The fourth one was a cancelled 2019 Valentine's Day story called 'A Rookie's first love'. After ironing out quite a lot of details, I decided to actually go ahead with it.  
> \- The fifth one will be my first story in another fandom. I’m still ironing out a lot of details but the structure of it is there...for the most part.
> 
> I’m also ironing out details for my Cars 2 rewrite in the works, a rewrite of an older Cars 2 rewrite and I'm rewriting the first 3 chapters of 'Friends to the End' as well as writing chapter 4 (The title will also be changed after I'm done). However, to make sure I stay active on this site, I have decided to upload smaller/shorter stories from time to time. 
> 
> Until then, please enjoy this filler story for Halloween. Again apologies if it isn't up to my usual standard. I hope you all understand and happy Halloween.

On paper, the Next Gens were better in every way. Their ability in the corners meant they could save more energy than those from the Stock Car Gen, as well as being able to reach top speeds faster and the ability to go for longer. This made the president of the sport make the races longer. Their lowered bodies help the air go over their roofs much easier, providing more down-force, allowing them to get to their top speeds. The vents and front bumpers also help with this. The virtual racing simulators also helped them get the racing lines and maintain consistency lap times.

But in reality, it wasn’t. These simulators don't train them to deal with all types of situations they would deal with in racing. Aaron Clocker’s crash at the Virginia Speedway in the 2017 series was an example of that. It wasn’t until 2018 that weather conditions were added to the simulators, but that only took care of a quarter of all their problems. Many cars often say that they aren’t as tough as the Stock Car Gen, as they aren’t as aggressive on the track. Many wish the stock cars would return instead.

“Tough indeed.” Bubba snorted. He had been listening to these complaints for a while now and was getting annoyed. He had seen how tough and aggressive the Next Gens were. But now, he was going to prove it.

Ingot was a town that quickly became a boom-town when gold was uncovered in the mid-1870s. By 1879, the population had increased to 7,000 to 10,000. The population began to decline by 1882 when miners were murdered for their gold along with violent shootouts, barroom brawls and other types of murder. It wasn’t until the late-1880s did the population shift the most, when other mining towns discovered gold, taking all the get-rich-quickly miners with them. Then in 1862, the mines collapsed and halted all the other businesses. With nothing else to do, the population that didn’t die all left the town. By 1902, the town was left to rot and soon became a ghost town.

When he proposed the idea to the others, he was sure that they all would be on board. But in reality, most of them were…

“No thanks.” JD snorted. “You can play Ghost Hunters all you want, but keep it down.”

“Yeah, I still need my beauty sleep.” Chris added. “Play nicely with the ghosts.”

“Just be careful the ghosts don’t bite back or take you away forever.” Storm hooted as he drove back inside his trailer. Michael drove into his trailer a few seconds later. Bubba then looked at JP, he was expecting him to drive into his trailer too, but instead he drove the other way, heading towards the town. The others looked at Bubba, who shrugged in response.

“I guess he’s leading the way.” He joked, as he and other Next Gens drove towards the town after him.

The first thing the Next Gens noticed was that several buildings didn’t withstand the test of time. Massive holes in the walls, collapsed roofs taking most of the floors and walls with them, smashed or missing windows, only four buildings looked fine minus the cracks and weathered walls. The roads weren’t asphalt, they were very rough and bumpy, littered with small stones. For normal cars, this wouldn’t be a problem but for cars like the Next Gens and their very low ground clearance, it could lead to them getting beached. The Next Gens knew this and tried to find other ways around it, leading them to splitting up into small groups. The only ones that went their own way were; Noah, JP and Ryan.

Chase, Bubba and Danny were in their own group on the South West part of town, heading towards the collapsed mines. Danny hit a bump and yelped in pain.

“I don’t know if my suspension can take this anymore.” Danny reversed. “Maybe we should go back and find anyway around.”

Bubba sighed with annoyance, this was the fourth time they had to stop. Needless to say, he was getting fed-up. “But we’re so close to finding something cool. I just know it.”

“Bubba, our suspension isn’t designed for this terrain. If one of us gets stuck, we won’t be able to help them.”

Bubba was getting more and more agitated. “You guys can turn back if you want, I’ll see you guys back at the trailer. I’d rather be stuck than it happening to my friends.”

“Bubba wait!”

“You guys turn back, I’ll get him.”

Bubba continued to push forward, trying to find something. He suddenly felt himself scraping his undercarriage off the ground and then, he stopped moving all together. His rear wheels spun helpless as he tried to get free but it was no use. He was stuck. Bubba left out an annoyed sigh.

“It’s funny really, Strip told me being a crew chief is an easy job. I’m starting to think it's the other way around.” McQueen joked.

“Mister McQueen? What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was traveling with Cruz and Mack. Thanks to my hydraulics,” McQueen raised his suspension to its max height. “I was able to see how deep the terrain gets for her.”

“Hydraulics?”

“Long story. I have to say, you seemed pretty determined to spend as much time as possible here.” McQueen raised one side of his top eyelid up. 

Bubba let out a big sigh. “Because I wanted to show every car that we Next Gens are actually tough. Fans often say that we’re not as tough as teh Stock Car Gens. So I thought if we actually spent the night here, in one of Amercia’s Haunted Ghost Town, I could prove to them that we are tough and prove them wrong.” Bubba looked down at his side. “Guess that didn’t turn out so good.”

“Guess it’s time to give my first life lesson.” He thought. “Bubba, there’s a difference being tough and what you’re doing. They’re referring to being brave and tough, as in, on a racetrack. They’re only saying that because you have all this futuristic equipment and where as the rest of the stock cars and I didn’t. Stock Cars were designed with the track in mind, the Next Gens were designed with only the track in mind. If they don’t like it, that's their fault.”

“But they don’t give us a chance.”

“And they didn’t give me a chance. Heck, they didn’t even give Cal a chance, even when Strip told them not to. Around the time I was rebuilt, there were three different types of Stock Cars, each different length and width. Fast forward a good few years and there were only two. They looked pretty much the same. Some cars don’t like change but that shouldn’t bother you. So what if they don’t see your potential. The only cars opinion you should care about, are those who cheer for you. They see you, not as a racer, but as a sports-hero they want to see succeed at racing. Not everycar is going to like you but that shouldn’t stop you. Because one day, you’ll end up on the podium and prove them wrong.”

“And if they’re still not happy?”

“Who cares, because your real fans will ask you for your autograph anyway.”

Bubba laughed with McQueen. “Thanks Mister McQueen.”

McQueen winked. He was about to say something else when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to where he thought he saw it but there was nothing that stood out. Curiously, he drove passed Bubba, Bubba watched him go curiously. Slowly, McQueen drove along the dirt road until something came crashing through a wall and raced right towards McQueen. It was completely white, with its front higher than its rear, its eyes were red around the edges and it made a horrifying scream. McQueen’s fight-or-flight instances kicked in and he reversed away. He rushed past Bubba, Bubba’s wheels spinning helpless. McQueen then remembered Bubba and screeched on his brakes. Bubba was frantic, all he could do was watch the figure get closer. Suddenly, another figure came out of nowhere and tackled the figure. It was JP, he hit the figure so hard he send it on its side before it toppled over and landed on its roof. It was then the white sheet fell off and revealed a orange and blue paint-scheme. A large wooden pallet fell off.

“Ryan?” JP asked.

“Oh hey JP, how are you doing?” JP and McQueen drove over to one side and began pushing him back onto his wheels. The tarp and pallet lay flat on the ground.

“Aw thanks, it’s nice to see again.” Ryan cluckled, blinking uncontrollable.

“I’m surprised you can see us, what happened?”

“I went to explore one of the buildings when a wall came crashing down. The dust created from that was kicked up when into my eyes so I couldn’t see. I felt something hit my hood and I then felt something wrap around me. I panicked and crashed threw something solid, my guess is a wall.” He then looked at JP. “Nice to see I’m not the only one who likes to crash into things.”

Instead of his usual emotionless stare, a very faint awkward laugh escaped his lips, as it formed into an awkward smile.

“Aw, don’t worry about it. Now I have more of a reason to go to the Hospital.”

“And on that note, let’s go back to the trailers. I think that’s enough ghost hunting for one night.”

“Um, before we do…” Bubba laughed awkwardly. “...could one of you please get me freed?”

McQueen pushed Bubba free and they all headed for the trailers. Daniel and Chase were already there. A wave of guilt washed over Bubba as he drove up alongside.

“I’m sorry I was so stubborn. I just wanted to prove we Next Gens are tough.”

“Aw don’t worry.” Chase smiled. “We can go to the track and prove to others how tough we really are.” Danny nodded with a massive grin on his face. Bubba was glad that they were so forgiving.

Shortly afterwards, McQueen had rounded up the others and they all got back to trailer parks. Storm’s, Michael’s, JD’s, Tim’s and Chris’ were already gone. They all went into their respected trailers until Aaron’s hauler spoke up.

“Hey, where’s Clocker?”

“He was driving around with Jonas and I.” Conrod explained.

“But he disappeared shortly afterwards you found us.” Jonas added. McQueen nodded.

"I wonder if he saw Ryan and bolted." Will chuckled.

“Where ever he is, it’s too dangerous for him to be out there by himself. He could be stuck somewhere.”

“You all head to the track, I’ll have a look around.” The haulers nodded and they all started making their way to the track. Aaron’s hauler looked back as McQueen raised his suspension up and drove back into town. About twenty minutes later, McQueen had explored the town and couldn’t find him. 

I'm pleased to say Aaron Clocker would be found safe and sound, two miles up the road. However, when he was found, he was petrified, embarrassed and upset. He was completely out of gas, laying sideways in a ditch. No car knows what he saw, even to this day, but luck for you, you will.

\--Moments before Ryan's scare--  
Conrod, Jonas and Aaron drove in the North East part of town. They had passed the cemetery and were passing the run-down train station. Jonas and Conrod continued driving and talking, no idea that Aaron had slowed down and stopped outside the window of the station. He had seen something moving out of the corner of his eye and wanted to see what it was. Looking in, he saw the gift shop. Many toys were old and looked like they were on the verge of falling apart. He could see something moving in the back of the shop. Peering into the old disgusting window, he could see something hanging, rocking back and forth. It was an old baby mobile. That’s when Aaron realized there was no wind, meaning there is no reason why it should be rocking. Feeling a little worried, he slowly reversed away from it.

“Hey guys, maybe we should-” That’s when he realized that Jonas and Conrod were no longer there. An uncomfortable silence kicked in as there was a noticeable drop in temperature. Aarons slowly drove forward, his eyes darting around nervously. In the dark and on his own, the environment seemed to change to spooky. Aaron just wanted to find one of his friends and get back to the trailers. But he never did.

Instead, he could see a silhouette of a car in the distance. Confusion soon took over when he realized the figure was taller than any Next Gen and much too skinny to be a hauler. It had the old styled yellow headlights and had very skinny tires. Aaron felt uncomfortable staring at it. The figure suddenly rushed towards him. In a moment of panic, Aaron races backwards. He managed to out-distance it as he raced past the station, until he broke through a fence, spun out in the mud and crashed into something metallic. It stopped Aaron completely. He shook his hood as he reversed, groaning in pain. He opened his eyelids and froze in fright. Right in front of him, was a dead car. It’s grill was broken and looked like sharp teeth, its headlights were smashed in the center and looked like angry eyes. It sent a cold shiver through Aaron’s chassis. He started to slowly reverse away, his eyes still glued to the dead car’s body. He suddenly felt something bump into his rear bumper. Turning around, he saw three more dead cars looking down at him, towering over him. They were slightly angled downwards, staring down at him coldly. Aaron decided that he didn’t want to find his friends first and wanted to go straight for the haulers, so he raced right past them. That’s when he saw the figure from earlier again. He slammed on his brakes and shut his eyes. He stopped a full wheel-turn (3 feet) from its front bumper.

Aaron opened one side of his eyelids after a few seconds, the figure just stared at him, his eyes peering into his soul. The figure appeared to be an old car, its chassis shook as it stared at him. Aaron was about to say hello when the figure's mouth slowly opened, an ear-piercingly loud scream bellowed from within. In a blind panic, Aaron raced past him. He crashed through some more fencing, bounced his way down over the dirt and headed for the nearest exit. He didn't stop until he took a corner too quickly and skidded out of control into a ditch. He ran out of gas, trying to get out.

All the other Next Gens were able to get over their experience but not Aaron. Still to this day, Aaron never told anycar what he saw that day. Aaron is sure that sometimes he can see the image of the old car in his dreams or in the shadows for a very long time afterwards, he even can hear the old car’s scream, bellowing in the distance, very faintly.

Aaron made a promise to himself that he’d never return to that town ever again.


End file.
